Virtual matrimony

WEBBED BLISS Kristi Murray and Michael DelVecchio got hitched online.

For those willing to trade the organ for iTunes and the walk down the aisle for a click of the mouse, there are several ceremonial websites (as they’re not legally binding) that allow you to tie the knot online. Your first reaction might be, “I don’t,” but as more and more couples meet through Match, Craigslist and JDate, sealing the deal with a Web-emony may not be such a leap.

Virtual Vow (virtualvow.com), the Internet Registry of Marriage (irom.org) and Holy Weblock (holyweblock.com) hope to attract couples who scoff at $40,000 weddings or whose same-sex union won’t be recognized at the courthouse. After entering names and e-mail addresses, and clicking “I do,” couples receive printable certificates marking their spiritual unions While these sites are for “entertainment purposes only,” they can feel like the real thing: For only $29.95, Holy Weblock has an ordained pastor who walks couples through the ceremony via video. Virtual Vow, one of the less extravagant sites, is free and has married more than 21,000 couples in its digital chapel since launching in 2006. More than 300 of those have been in New York, based on the bride and groom’s IP addresses. We caught up with one of those happy e-couples.

Michael DelVecchio, 24, computer security consultant, and Kristi Murray, 22, real-estate receptionist.

“We met at a hole-in-the-wall dance club, Club Vegas, in Port Jefferson, Long Island, in 2003 and have been together ever since. We got engaged four years ago and moved to Florida, where we had two children. Since real-estate prices plummeted, we decided to move back to New York this year and bought a house in Shirley, Long Island. After buying the house, we couldn’t afford a real wedding, but we wanted to do something that felt official, so we signed on to Virtual Vow and got married on August 19th. We didn’t play music during the online ceremony, but we dressed up and chose nice outfits for the kids. To make it a real occasion, we printed the certificate and went out to a hibachi grill dinner. We told our parents and posted a link to our wedding certificate on Facebook. Kristi’s father bought us a board game (Climaxxx, a truth-or-dare-type game), and Michael’s mother bought us gifts for the new house (a toaster oven, a regular toaster, red curtains and tension rods). We’re hoping for a real wedding in two years, on January 29th—the anniversary of our first date.”

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